Spidey's New Ally
by Daladakea
Summary: Summary: J. Jonah Jameson's son is missing again. He naturally thinks that Spider Man is to blame and insists on going along for Spidey's rescue mission. Ultimate test of patience and tolerance! Companion to my story The Definition of a Leader. This is the USM archive's 500th story!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

**A/N Reviews and suggestions are highly appreciated and requested! Tell me what you want to see!**

Peter Parker was standing next to his locker as MJ stood tapping her foot behind him. He had a headache and didn't want to talk to anyone, but he clearly wasn't going anywhere until he listened to what she had to say, He sighed. "What is it MJ?" "Oh what? I don't know what you're talking about." She said sarcastically rolling her eyes. "You're tapping your foot like you do when you have something to say and you won't stop tapping until you get to say it. So what is it?" "Guess who got a job at the Daily Bugle? I did! Finally after years of waiting and trying! Now, as Mr. Jameson's personal assistant, I am also his confidante. Unwillingly sometimes, but still. Anyway I have a piece of information I'd like to pass on to Spider Man. So listen up! Jameson's son is missing. We think he was taken by Doctor Doom, but there have been rumors that it was another villain. He won't call S.H.I.E.L.D since his son got a new appearance at the end of that particular adventure. So just be sure to pass it along ok?" She smiled and gave her classic MJ wink and jogged off to class.

He hurried on to muttering to himself the whole way. "Jameson's son is missing again? Geez! That man was the exact opposite of his father! I hope he's ok. I'm going after him after school today. But I can't tell Fury. I can't tell the team who needs the help or they'll tell Fury. Who am I going to leave in charge of the team while I'm gone? And most importantly, what gave her the idea that I personally knew Spidey? Does she know about my secret identity?" (Spidey scream like in the USM cartoon.)

"You ok Pete?" Ava whispered in lunch. Peter jerked his head up from where the jello had been doing it's amazing dance of standing still on his plate. "Huh? Uh yeah! Why?." "You sure Webhead? You've been awful quiet today." Luke supplied. "Silence in a time of need is the sure way to failure in a time of chaos." Danny stated. He reached over and put his hand on Peter's shoulder. "Talk." He gently commanded. Good old unshakable Danny could almost always get Peter to open up and vise versa.

"I have to go on a mission. One that's not authorized by Fury. Because the man who's son is missing won''t call in S.H.I.E.L.D until it's too late. I need to leave someone in charge of the team, because having the whole team go on the mission at once will certainly get Fury's attention. I may need him to know later on, but if he figures it out too soon, I'll get a nasty talk down on all sides and someone's son will die." "Who are we talking about now guys? Me? I'm always a good conversation starter." Sam said , coming up from where he'd been flirting with MJ. "No Sam." Peter said. His brain gears suddenly started whirring. Sam always acted like he had a huge ego and that he thought he was the coolest person on the planet. He never took any responsibility for what was happening in a fight. Not the best leader there could be.

All things considered, Danny appeared to be the best choice for leading the team in his absence, but Sam could use the experience more. Sam didn't really think he was all that cool, and his ego was almost nonexistent. A few times, when Sam had been upset, he'd talked enough for Peter to know the kid had a bit more baggage than the rest of them did. He needed some leadership experience and self confidence. He needed to learn compassion and planning ahead. He'd be perfect for this particular situation. After all, Peter would still be in the city, at least until the villain's trail lead him out of it. He could temporarily still guide Sam and besides, the team would encourage him and help him through his failures. The mean, picking, evil side of Peter said that Sam's mistakes would be many, but his friendly side said that Sam would eventually be successful and learn what he needed to. That moment the light went on in his head. Sam would lead the team, and nothing would change that!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

After telling Sam on the Tricarrier that he intended for him to lead, Peter decided to suit up and head out. He needed clues and leads to find out who took Jameson's son. This would be lots of things. A fight, a rescue, probably a test of patience and tolerance since Jameson was probably wanting to go along with him. But it was a mystery. And while Peter Parker was good with science and scientific mysteries, and even despite being a crime fighter, he wasn't all that good at solving mysteries.

As he swung through the streets heading for the Daily Bugle, Spider Man saw MJ strolling with Harry towards the ice cream shop. He decided to check that out, Spidey style. He swooped down and landed in front of them in a sort of ta da fashion. "Good day wonderful citizens of New York! How goes the little date?" Here he gave a little bow. MJ laughed the way only MJ could when she was surprised.

"Oh! This isn't a date! Harry and I were going to chat about what to get our best friend for a cheer up gift. He's been down lately and we want find out why."

Spider Man felt pretty silly at that. After all, he'd thought they were going out for ice cream. But by the looks of it now, the ice cream stand just happened to be in their path to the gift store. "What would be this friend's name? Maybe a little visit from Spider Man might cheer him up."

MJ's face seemed to glow at that suggestion. "Hey you're right! He's always talking about you and sticking up for you when he sees someone believing Jameson's lies about you! His name is Peter Parker. Do you really think you can visit him?"

Now Spidey really felt like a jerk, and for no real reason. It wasn't as if he could actually tell them he was Spider Man and that he's not been moping, not really, a little, but that he was trying to figure out who would lead his team while he was on his mission. He really wanted to, but now probably wasn't the time. "Well, I'll have a chat with the fella for you! I gotta run! I'm getting a robbery call!" He was a half a block away by the time he realized that saying that probably made him sound like the crook. Right on cue, "SPIDER MAN'S A MENACE!"

"Come on JJJ! Don't I ever get a break from your nasty accusations? Why do you hate me so much anyway?" He muttered to himself. "Because you're a menace! That's why!" Huh?

Spidey turned around and looked behind him. J. Jonah Jameson was right there. (Spidey screech, like in the tv show.) Spidey jumped back a couple of inches. "How, but... Wait a sec, you're broadcasting! Live. How can you be standing here and still be up there?"

"Easy, hire someone to put a huge sticker that says LIVE on the screen where the word would be. And you are a menace. Where'd you take my son?" Really? Even in a crisis like this? Ugh! "I'm not a menace. I'm a superhero. And I didn't take your son. In fact, I'm trying to find him for you." "Why? So you can get the reward money?"

"Huh?" "Oh, right! Wait for it..." They started listening to the broadcast again. "I'm offering 5 million dollars to whoever finds my son and destroys the villain who took him. It was SPIDER MAN! Find him!" Jameson turned back to Spidey. "There you see? The media never lies. At least not the Daily Bugle! You are a menace. Oh yeah and there's the announcement for the reward money."

"Look Jameson, I didn't take your son. As for my being a menace, think what you want, but I'm not a criminal. I take a pretty nasty beating on average every other day trying to lock up the real menaces."

"You say you're going to find my son. Fine. Even though you already know where he is. I see what you're doing! You were going to steal my son, keep him hidden for a few days until I offered a reward, then bring him to my office with a whole fabricated story so that you can get a little dough! Well, you're plan's off! Because I'm coming with you!" And he stomped off to get ready.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**A/N Sorry if the print is off in this chapter. I had some trouble with my word document. Reviews and suggestions are highly appreciated!:) Enjoy!Sorry by the way that it took me so long to update. Life and all, you know.:)**

"How much farther?! I'm hungry! How long are you going to be until we get to wherever your hiding place is for kidnapped civilians like me?" Spider Man rolled his eyes for the hundredth time in the last hour. Jameson was relentless. "For the record, I didn't kidnap you. You insisted on coming. I didn't take your son. And I'm not stopping until I find a piece of evidence. And furthermore..."

He saw a falling skyscraper up ahead. It looked like the work of Doctor Octopus.

"There's my evidence." He said to himself. Jameson heard him though. "I knew it!

You DID take him! Where's my son? If my phone weren't dead, I'd call the cops right now and have you arrested!" "Settle down JJJ. I'm having a hard time thinking while you're talking! I mean there's the evidence that will lead us to your son." "That you kidnapped." "Oh boy." Spiderman muttered. Which sent Jameson off on another long ramble. Soon enough, Spidey gave up finding clues and dropped Jameson off at the Daily Bugle skyscraper, which was still broadcasting hate speech about Spiderman and

Jameson complained about how Spiderman was just saying he was giving up for the day so that he could go change the hiding place for Jameson's son. Spider Man rolled his eyes under his mask and bade the man good day. He thought it'd be a good idea to go see

Sam on the Tricarrier and see how he was holding up with the news of his being the leader.

He decided that barging in like things were normal was the best approach. He'd found enough clues to know that it was likely for Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus to be working together, and that the mission he had to go on was likely to be more than dangerous. It was basically more life threatening than usual. He knew he could sort of tell Sam these sorts of things. Sam would understand. Oh, he'd pick and tease and laugh alright, but he would still lighten the burdens of being a superhero sometimes. As soon as Peter pushed the door to Sam's quarters on the Carrier though, he could tell Sam would need some encouragement. He was almost asleep, but looked worried and deep in thought. He decided that speaking now would probably be better than none at all, so he said the only thing that came to mind. "Hey Buckethead. Feeling a little nervous?"

He sat down on the side of the bed. "How did you..." "Really? I was a newbie at leading once too." He smiled involuntarily, remembering his own insecurities when he'd first started to lead. His had been furthered by the fact that he felt that he had killed his Uncle Ben by not watching out for him that night. He'd been too busy trying to cage fight his way to wealth and fame. He'd always felt better when he was only responsible for himself. It had always scared him to lead the others. He always felt that he was a liability on a team, especially as the leader, he was a better as a one man show. He knew now though that wasn't the case. He belonged on this team and better yet, he knew he was a good leader for it. As he was having these thoughts, Sam sat up and started asking questions. Peter knew then that Sam was far more stressed out than he was letting on.

"Pete, will you still be around? I mean is there a way that I'll be able to contact you? I know you aren't taking your watch to talk, since Fury can track you that way." Peter suddenly realized what this mission might cost him. Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus would make a fierce team against him and if they did have Jameson's son, things were going to get rather sticky. He realized what this mission might cost his team. He quickly remembered that he was in a conversation with Sam and laughed a little too strangely to cover for his insecurity. But then he thought that he might as well. "Sam, this mission,

I already have a few leads. I might need help. It's probably more dangerous than what it should be.

I can't tell you everything, just in case Fury asks before I call in. You can say you don't know and be telling the whole truth. Yes, I'm taking the watch, but it will be deactivated until I need it. Why would you need to contact me?" He thought maybe Sam would want to be able to contact him, but of course, knowing Sam, he thought he'd be fine. He was a little shocked by the direction of this conversation.

Sam looked incredulous. Apparently, he thought it should be obvious. That's when Peter knew. Sam felt way, way out of his league. "I would have to contact you sometime! I mean, how can I lead when nobody is there to tell me how? I'll make mistakes, people will get hurt. I need you to tell me how to handle each situation." Sam said, his voice beginning to sound desperate.

Peter knew Sam could quit on him at any time. He didn't know he could, but f he had, he'd have hightailed it right there. Poor Sam really needed to be pulled onto the right road, and Peter felt that having him lead would do the job just right, but if Sam figured out that he could quit, he would. He was scared to death. "Hey, settle down there! You're going faster than your name says you can! First off, you're right, you will make mistakes. That's part of learning. Second, you have a team. Listen to their input. If someone makes a good suggestion, use it. That's why you don't work alone. And last, I'll check in on you here and there for the first few days. Cool?" He saw Sam's face relax and hoped that it wasn't an act. "Cool." Sam replied. They high fived and Peter left.

He stopped outside the door to listen in. He heard Sam throw up in his bathroom and when he heard the bed springs squeeze again, he thought he heard a little sniffle too. Maybe Sam didn't know he sniffled, since he didn't yell at himself out loud. But he seemed to squash his fear down and go to sleep. Peter stayed by the door until he was sure Sam was fine and then he hurried home.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

At least Peter tried to go home. Jameson caught him as he passed the Daily Bugle.

"Peter Parker. Just the person I wanted to see! There's still a job open for you at the Bugle you know. Just come to me, any day any time!" Peter waved to him but didn't slow down.

"Thanks Mr. Jameson! I'll be thinking about it." He hoped he wasn't passed Aunt May's time limit for him to be out. She'd been a little over concerned with late homecomings since Uncle Ben's death. Not that peter could blame her. The bad parts of New York City were just terrible after sunset. Heck, if he weren't Spidey, he wouldn't even go there in the daytime. Period.

As he passed his house, Peter saw something moving in a corner of a dead end alley. He moved to check it out. Harry Osborne walked out of the shadows. Then he remembered. This had been a place special to the two of them. They had sat and talked for hours in an old empty dumpster as Peter cried.

Harry had consoled him here after Uncle Ben's death. They'd made a promise to each other that this would be where they'd meet for comfort from similar tragedies and that the next time Harry needed to talk to a friend, Peter was the person to talk to and this would be the place. By the look on Harry's face, the time had come. Now the roles were switched. Peter rushed forward,, aware even as he was doing so that he had no idea what to say or do. Whenever he'd had to comfort and encourage his team, he'd seen what they needed and how to help them. But Harry wasn't a superhero, wasn't his team. Harry was Peter's best friend and now he didn't know how to help him.

"Pete," Harry started. "My dad's the Green Goblin. You know that already though right? Anyway, he's gone crazy again and he wants Venom. I can't get the symbiote out of my system and I can feel it trying to pull on me. I want you to know that I don't blame Spiderman anymore, some guy called Iron Fist had a chat with me and explained everything. Just, talk to Spidey and get him to help ok?"

"Yeah ok Harry. You wanna talk about it?"

He and Harry sat in the old dumpster for another hour or so. Harry going on about his fear of Venom, his love for his father that was never returned, since his mother had died giving birth to him, his sadness over his father being the Goblin. He started crying at one point, but after a few minutes he pulled himself back together. After this encounter, Peter realized that it was almost midnight and Aunt May was likely to be profusely worried. She might even ground him, and Aunt May never grounded him. That would put his mission at risk. Ugh, sometimes being a superhero was a huge problem for his family.

Sure enough, when he walked in, Aunt May rushed over and checked him for any kind of injury "Peter Parker, where have you been?" She asked in a small voice that he'd never ever heard her use before. "Uh, late night bowling." It was a statement but it sounded like a question. He cringed a little inside at that. She just stared at him. "No? Uh, let me think up a better excuse."

"No way buster! You're grounded until you tell me the truth." Uh oh. Looked like the end of that one. He'd have to tell her, or she'd jeopardize his mission. But telling her about the mission would jeopardize her.

(Mini cartoon in Peter's head)

"Aunt May, I'm sorry to tell ya this, but I'm Spidey. Look, wall crawling, suit, you know, the works. I have a mission that I have to go on that could kill me, my boss doesn't even know about it, and I have to leave tonight so if you ground me... well someone could die."

"Peter Parker... I don't know what to say, but I know what to do. It pains me but I'm turning you over to the authorities! To think my own nephew is such a public danger."

"Nonononono! Aunt May, you don't understand! Let me explain!"

(spidey screech)

Nope. Not an option. Now he was really stuck.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

**A/N Hi all! Updates are likely to be slow, and I'm so sorry for taking so long with this one! Computer crashed (sort of) and I had to figure out how to do attachments on emails so that I could get this back up. **

**Hope this long chapter is worth the wait! Reviews are welcome and suggestions are very much valued. Now, on with the show!:)**

As Peter lay in bed that night, he listened to the rain that had started drumming on the roof. He thought about what he could do, to tell Aunt May wasn't an option. Maybe leave a note telling the truth,

(In Peter's head.)

A note sits on the table, Aunt May picks it up.

"Aunt May, I'm sorry to leave and worry you like this, but I am Spider Man. I have a mission. As you know, Jameson's son is missing. I can't tell you more about this than I have, but I love you Aunt May. I'm sorry you had to find out this way. Your loving nephew, Peter"

Aunt May holds the note to her chest and cries, saying his name over and over again.

(End of in head movie)

Couldn't do that either. Any excuse he could cook up to put in the note wouldn't be good enough to explain why he'd have to override her grounding. Just leaving seemed like his only option and he didn't want to think about what that would do to her. But like or not, that was what he had to do. And he needed to go now. And so, his heart beating a thoroughly guilty and sad tempo, he suited up and headed out into the night.

Peter found no clues this night(although he did have to fight Goblin again), and being the perfectly reasonable teen that he was, he decided to go home for one more day. He changed out of his Spidey suit in an obscure alley and began the long walk back home ("Should have considered web slinging at least half the way back!" He grumbled to himself at one point.) Then he saw something so funny and so scary, he could scarcely believe his eyes. JJJ was webslung to the wall of his building. Oh boy. That was going to prove an interesting news report.

"Peter Parker! Oh good! Perfect timing, perfect. Get me out of here!" JJJ barked.

"Sure thing!"

Peter set about picking strands off and yanking the whole thing off. JJJ didn't know it was supposedly unbreakable,so he didn't realize that Peter had used his super strength.

"Much better! Thanks boy! Listen, I'll walk you home. I want to talk talk to you! I still have an opening and you still don't have a job." On and on he rambled, not noticing Peter's slight limp from his fight, and by the time that they reached Peter's house, JJJ's voice was the world's worst curse to Peter.

"Listen, Peter, I hope you'll consider it. You take wonderful photographs for the school photography contest."

"Will do Mr. Jameson." Peter smiled and shook hands, although he felt like ripping his own ears off.

He walked into the house and up to his room. He told Aunt May about the whole thing. He made it sound like he'd had an appointment with JJJ, and plus, he knew she'd have calmed down anyway.

She didn't officially lift his grounding, but it was sort of an unspoken, "Don't do it again and we'll call it forgotten." sort of thing. He trudged up to his room and started doctoring his wounds.

Minutes later, he heard voices and feet pounding on the stairs. Sam came in a moment later.

"What happened to you?" Sam asked.

"Fight with the Goblin." Peter answered.

The look on Sam's face said that he knew Peter was hiding how hard the whole thing was emotionally. Nobody could be that nonchalant about their best friend's dad being a monster, and not be hiding something.

"Surprised you haven't left town yet." Sam said, changing the subject, sort of.

Peter sighed and ran his hands through his hair. He was tired and stressed, and he knew Sam could see it very clearly, and yet, Peter was shocked to find he didn't mind all that much. He tried to think of something Iron Fist would say in a time like this, even though Peter himself wouldn't say it, to describe what he was feeling and why it helped to share it with Sam. Probably something like, "A burden shared is a weight lifted from a heart that shakes with it's weight." Yep probably. Peter quickly turned his attention back before Sam noticed that it had lapsed.

"Yeah, well I'm leaving tonight. I think I have the leads I need to get started. Anything you wanna ask or say, you'd better do it now." There was a moment of silence as Sam seemed to think about his choice of words and he knew he'd let too much slip and this was going to get sad.

"Hey, uh, Pete?" Sam waited until Peter looked at him. "I know we usually don't do this whole heart to heart thing two days in a row, but you really seem like something's bugging you. What is it?"

Yep there it was. Peter pondered how to answer. Should he tell Sam? They could laugh over the fact that it was JJJ that he was assisting, or they'd end up getting all mushy over the fact that Harry and his father were again involved with Doc Ock. Peter realized, a little off guard, that he'd stayed quiet far too long. He chose his words as carefully as he could without taking too long. He knew Sam had a curfew to stick to.

"I don't know. I can't really tell you anything. I guess I didn't hide it as much as I should have. I might not survive this mission. It's something big and I don't know what all is involved, but I do know that it's one I can't get anyone else into. Not yet."

"Why didn't you hide it as well as you usually do?"

Peter pondered that even as he answered and realized that he meant every word that he said. "'Cause Sam, I think you have this strange thing where I feel like I can talk to you without fear what you'll think. Of course, I know you're going to pick and tease, but it helps lighten my load, without increasing anyone else's. Make sense?"

"Yeah."

Aunt May came in with the cookies right then and made a fuss over Peter's cuts, which she hadn't seen before. It took them a full five minutes to convince her that he was fine and that she could go.

After that drama, Peter shifted his attention back to Sam. "So what did you come to talk about?"

Sam explained the situation with Fury's assignment and how the team suddenly considered it his responsibility to help them with their speeches. "So what's the problem?"

It seemed simple enough. Look it up in a book or wait a while on missions and figure it out, then get them together and give a lecture, then have heart to hearts with each one of them in order to figure out how to best help them give their speech. But apparently, Sam hadn't figured that out yet. He was slower than Peter had expected, but he wasn't giving up on Sam yet.

"Pete, I don't know how to lead. How am I supposed to teach them?" Sam's voice was starting to sound panicked. Peter again chose his words carefully.

"Relax. Once you go on a few missions, do a few trainings, you'll figure it out. Ask the team what they need. Have deep conversations about morals and stuff. Eventually you'll figure out what you're doing."

"Ok." Sam had to leave since he was due back on the Tricarrier at five. He turned to face Peter again right as he got to the door.

"Pete, just so we're all clear and everything, I know I can be mean and odd. But you've been the best leader that I know. You're my friend and I love you man. Come home safe ok?" Sam's voice got a little hoarse and Peter knew that Sam knew, that he might not come back from this alive. Before he knew what had happened,Sam threw his arms around Peter. He was shaking,but Peter doubted that he noticed. Peter felt the odd urge to cry as well.

"You hold on to my team. Hold 'em together you hear me loud and clear?" He heard his voice waver, although he couldn't bet that Sam had. He heard Sam swallow hard as he replied in a voice barely above a whisper, "Loud and clear."

They hugged one more time and Peter almost lost it. He felt Sam scrunch up his face, and sure enough, when they pulled back, Sam had one tear trailing down his cheek. Sam turned without another word and headed out the door. And then, Peter buried his head in his pillow and cried.


End file.
